Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel share first-round lead at Tour Championship

Chris Kirk and Billy Horschel took a big step Thursday toward the biggest payoff in golf by making late birdies to share the Tour Championship lead at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Both players already have won FedEx Cup playoff events to earn the top two seeds going into the Tour Championship. Playing together in the last group, they are tied for the lead at four-under-par 66.

If either of them were to win the Tour Championship, they would capture the FedEx Cup and the $10-million bonus.

“Billy has obviously been playing some pretty incredible golf with winning last week and finishing second the week before,” Kirk said. “And I’ve been doing all right myself.”

Kirk is a 29-year-old who went to Georgia and plays golf without a pulse. Even when he chipped in from 80 feet on the 17th hole, he simply smiled and bowed his head before slapping hands with his caddie.

Horschel is a 27-year-old who went to Florida, brash enough to wear octopus prints on his pants in the final round at a U.S. Open, to flip his cap around backward and to pump his fist for routine pars.

They grew up playing amateur golf against each other. They were teammates in the Walker Cup. And they are leading the race to the FedEx Cup.

“We’re probably two completely opposite people in the sense that he just looks like he’s moving very slow and nothing affects him,” Horschel said. “I look like I’m running around the golf course — literally last Sunday. But Chris and I get along very well. We seem to always play well when we’re paired together.”

Masters champion Bubba Watson isn’t out of the mix just yet. He made bogey from the bunker on the last hole for a 67 and was one shot behind, along with Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed and Jason Day.

The top five seeds need only to win the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup. Watson is third.

Rory McIlroy is at No. 4, and he didn’t hurt himself. McIlroy wasn’t at his best, though he made enough birdies and key par saves for a 69 that kept him very much in the hunt.

“You can really shoot yourself out of it,” McIlroy said. “Even though I didn’t play great, I kept it together.”

Hunter Mahan might have shot himself out of it. Mahan is seeded fifth and opened with a 74. Only one other player in the 29-man field — Geoff Ogilvy, who is just happy to have made it to the Tour Championship — had a worse score.

Mahan, one of three captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, has broken par once in his last nine rounds since winning The Barclays.

Harvey wins U.S. Mid-Amateur championship

Scott Harvey won the U.S. Mid-Amateur on Thursday to earn a spot in the Masters, beating Brad Nurski, 6 and 5, in the 36-hole final.

The 36-year-old Harvey, a real estate property manager from Greensboro, North Carolina, had a 4-up lead after the morning round on Saucon Valley’s Old Course in Bethlehem, Pa.

“I just can’t really put it into words,” Harvey said. “This tournament has been my No. 1 goal every single year. I can’t even put it into words.”

Shirley takes U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur title

Margaret Shirley won the 2014 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, beating defending champion Julia Potter, 5 and 3, in the title match.

Shirley defeated four-time champion Meghan Stasi, 5 and 4, in her semifinal, winning holes 10 through 12 with pars to take a five-hole lead. Shirley had 13 pars and one bogey in 14 holes played in the match at Harbour Trees Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind.

Potter and Tara Joy-Connelly were even after four holes. The defending champion won Nos. 5, 7 and 8 to take a three-hole lead and never trailed by more than two before halving No. 17 to clinch the victory.